Gondola car



2 Sheets-Sheet l. T. WATKINS.

GONDOLA GAR.

(No Model.)

' Patented May 13, 1890.

INVENTOH QZW A TTOHNE rs 5R5 410., mommy (N0 Modei.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. WATKINS.

GONDOLA CAR.

No. 427,938. Patented May 13,1890.

16 15 1a 1a p .Z 14 0 U 13 Y L E 10 &

.W/TNESSES: IN VENTOH ATTORNEYS ms NORRIS PETERS coI, wo'rwumoWASHINOTUN n, c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS WATKINS, OF COAL BLUFF, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM J.SOULLY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

GONDOLA CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,938, dated May 13,1890.

Application filed January 4, 1890. Serial No. 335,902. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS WATKINS, of Coal Blufi, in the county ofWashington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and ImprovedGondola Car, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to cars of the class ordinarily employed in thetransportation of coal, ore, coke, &c., the object of the inven- IO tionbeing to provide for the easy unloading of the car; and to the endsnamed the invention consists in the construction and arrangement ofparts hereinafter more fully explained, and specifically pointed out inthe I 5 claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side View of a car embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is anenlarged crosssectional view of one of the doors or traps. Fig. 3 is adetail View of one of the catches 2 5 employed in connection with thedoors. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the car-body, and Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a portion of the car-body.

In the drawings above referred to, 10 rep- 3o resentsthe sills proper,11 the center sills, and 12 the intermediate sills. The lower faces ofthe center sills 11 are arranged in about the same horizontal plane asare the upper edges of the sills 10, the sills 11 resting upon'cross-bars 13, as shown, these bars 13 being framed and held to place inany appropriate manner, while the car is braced laterally by truss-rods14. Directly above the sills 11 there is arranged a horizontal board orfloor section 15, and at either side of this board there are inclinedsections 16 and 16.

The sides 17 of the car-body are formed with a number of ports oropenings A, which said ports or openings are normally closed by 5 trapsor doors B. These traps or doors B are provided with upwardlyextendinghooked straps 18, which said straps are arranged to engage a rod or bar19, that is passed through one of the posts 20 and half-way into theadjacent post 21. In this way I provide for the swinging of the doorfrom the position in which it is shown in full lines in Figs. 4 and 5 tothe position indicated by dotted lines in said figures, and I alsoprovide for the easy removal of the door should such removal be deemeddesirable.

In order that the doors may be held closed against accidentaldisplacement, I provide each door with two gravity-catches 30, that arearranged to enter recesses a, formed in the posts 20 and 21, the catchesbeing provided with a knob or handle 31, by means of which they maybethrown back against stop or limit pins 32, all undue dropping of thecatches when they are within the post-recesses being prevented by stopor limit pins 33.

In practice I prefer to pivotally connect the catches to plates 34:,that are secured to the door-corners.

Such catches as the one above described will act to hold the door in aclosed position against any pressure from within, and at the same timethe catches may be readily thrown from their receiving-recesses when itis desired to discharge the contents of the car.

As the car is discharging, it is desirable that the material should notstrike against the door-that is, that the door should be held above thefalling 1nassand to this end I prefer to form one of the posts with arecess, as 1), adapted to receive the upper edge of the door, the doorbeing slid laterally from the position in which it is shown in fulllines in Fig. 5 to the position indicated by dotted lines, and after theupper edge of the door has entered the slot 1) all downward movement ofthe door will be prevented, as will be readily understood.

Although not positively essential, I prefer to provide the car-body witha number of stirrups, as 10, such stirrups being arranged to receive theposts of coke or other racks.

By means of the construction hereinbefore described, and illustrated inthe drawings, I provide for the quick and easy unloading of 5 a car,thus avoiding the heavy labor of shoveling out the contents of the car,and although the car forming the subj cot-matter of this ap plication isdesigned primarily for use in the transportation of coal, coke, ores,&c., it will zoo of course be understood that it might be used for anyother purpose.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The combination, With the door-opening, thevertical posts 20 21 at the sides thereof, and the round bar 19,connecting said posts above and in front of the door-opening, of thedoor adapted to close said opening, and hinge-straps 1S, fixedly securedto the inner face of the door and extending above its upper edge aroundthe rod to rock and slide thereon, whereby the door may be held open byfirst swinging it outwardly and then laterally until its upper edgeengages the outer face of one of the posts, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the car having its 20 bottom inclined fromopposite sides of the center and door-openings in the sides, of theposts 20 21, one of each pair of which has a recess 1), and each pairhaving recesses a in the lower ends of their adjacent faces, rods 19,the doors B, mounted to swing 011 said rods and to slide laterallythereon into engagement with said recesses b, and the latches at thelower corners of the doors to engage the recesses a, substantially asset forth.

3. The combination, with the posts 20 and 21, forming a portion of acar-body, of a rod or bar carried by said posts and a trap or doormounted to turn and to slide upon such red, one of the posts beingprovided with a recess adapted to receive the upper edge of the door, 35

substantially as described.

THOMAS WATKINS. lVitnesses:

GEO. A. FIFE, GEO. T. LINN.

